Letter: Birthplace of England.

Byline: Andrew Pearce

I READ this week that an expert in Viking history, Professor Harding of Nottingham University, has brought new arguments to prove that the battle of Brunanburh in AD937 in fact took place on what is now Brackenwood golf course in Wirral, Brunanburh perhaps being an old name for nearby Bromborough.

At this bloodbath, an invasion force of Norwegian Vikings who had settled in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and who were trying to make new conquests further south, were routed by a Saxon army under King Athelstan (Alfred the Great's son).

This battle is often cited as the moment when Englishness was born because it was the first time that the various Saxon kingdoms in different parts of what is now England had come together to fight a common foe.

Merseyside can therefore claim to be the birthplace of England and of the English race. Should a plaque be put up to commemorate this momentous event and mention made in tourist literature?

Andrew Pearce, Eastham, Wirral